Float-cutting means



W. L. WINFIELD FLOAT CUTTING mums March 17,

Filed March is 1924 Arm/run class of mechanism for effecting the cutting UNITED I STATES PATE WILLIAM L. WINFIELD, or PATERSON', NEW JERSEY.-

rLoAr-co'r'rrne MEANS.

Application filed March 13, 1924. Serial m. ssasroj I To allwhom it may co'raecr'n:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. WIN- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county ofPassaic and State of New Jersey,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFloat- Cutting Means, of which the following is a specification.

It has been proposed to effect the cutting of threads ing device in a fabric by providing a guidwhich the threads to: be out are made to bridge-as floats and which guides the thus floated or bridging threads to a cutter.

Such a means as .this 'may be employed in a loom, in which case the guiding device usually hasa wire (arranged to rise and fall with a shaft of the harness-the same as each warp thread) extending from its free end and adapted in the intervals when 'it is raisedto' conduct floats of the weft, passed thereover in the intervals when it is depressed, into bridging relation to said device andthence into the range'of the cutter; or it may be used after removal of the fabric from the loom in cutting floats through which in the weaving a false thread or cord'is extended and which cordis used, the same as .the wire, to conduct the floats into bridging relationto said device and sointo the range of the cutter. It is to this of floated threads in fabrics to which my inventionf relates, and the principal object of the invention is to increase the efficiency and simplify the construction thereof and provide cutting mechanism;which can successfully be used either in a loom forcutting weft floats or for cutting floats in general in fabrics after removal from] the loom.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to the cutting of '(weft)-floats in a fabric in the. process of weaving the s an'1e'- Fig. 1 being a longitudinal sectional view of so much of a loom including the'invention as is material; i

Fig. .2 a plan of what is shown in Fig; 1; Fig. 3 is aside elevation, partly insection, of the parts which are mounted on the breast-beam;

.side elevation ofthe cutter and guide, the shaft for the cutter and a portion of said guide being shown iii-section;

Fig. 5 is and f aplan of'what appears in Fig. 4;

"Thumb-screws i are'screwed into this rod ters is operatively ness at b; and a ro1ler,,over which, atthe back of'the loom, the sheet of warp and fabric and also certain hereinafter described Q flexible attenuated devices extend, isshown at c, (Z being rollers over which said sheet extends from the take-up means '6. of the loom. Y On the loom sides a", suitably spaced from each other, are secured by screws f two elongated fittings 9 through suitable holes in which a are fitted the ends .of a rod 71 from the top and these thumb-screws serve to bind to the rod the forwardlyvprojecting tangs-or lugs 7" formed on a. flat strip j which extends parallel with" the rod; the end tangs abut-the fittings and hold the rod against endwise displacement. Journaled in the fittings parallel with and rearward of-the rod is, a-shaft lc which has a key-way 7c and may be rotated through a 'belt-andpulley connection k*"fromany rotary member of the loom, as a part'of the take-up means; This shaftfaszwillappear, is subjected to a force tending to bow it forwardly, and for holdingit against such bowjing I provide tie-members l in the form of upright plates h aving holes Z and 12 receivingthe rod and shaft; these plates may be cutaway at 13-s0 as to clear thefstrip 7'.

from endwise move- 'by each cutter is'sp lined to'the shaft so that" it rotates therewithbut may befshifted lengthwise thereof. With each of-th'ese cutassociatedaguiding devicevas followsr f Each guiding device includes a flat elongated shanko which is pointed at its free end and has formed with or rigidly secured touit' an upstanding plate or plate-like portion p that is adapted to be hooked over and thus obtain a forward bearing on the shaft k. It'm'ay be notedin passing that the free end of thexshank has suitably attached thereto a wire or, other flexible attenuated device g which extends backthrough an eye ,of the harness and over the roller 0, 9

being normally kept taut by a weight r. The rearward portion of the plate p is bifurcated or slitted in a vertical plane to receive the cutter which it thus houses or sheathes excepting at the forward under portion of its periphery, where said plate is cut away as shown in Fig. i, the cutter being thus adapted to cooperate with the shank 0 to sever any float bridging and moved forward over the shank, which for this purpose has a slot p into which the cutter reaches. The plate affords a hook portion that is adapted to be hooked over the shaft as described because of a slot 79 which .is formed therein so as to extend at a forward downward incline from its rear end. The forward end of the plate has at the top a seat p on which the strip may rest and also a shoulder at 39 It will be apparent that if a fabric is advanced under the guiding devices and in some way its floats are caused to bridge their shanks 0, these floats will be guided by the shanks into the range of the cutters and so out. Each guiding device is kept up to its work by being hooked over the shaft and normally held bearing against the same by the yielding means (IMT, or its equivalent; if the connection g breaks or for any other reason the guiding device has to be removed this is easily accomplished by unhooking it from the shaft (dotted lines, Fig. 3), first tilting it upwardly as shown so as to clear the rod 7t and then shifting it forwardly. It is prevented from downward tilting at all times by the underlying breastbeam. When, as shown, the mechanism is used in a loom these considerations have to be taken into account, to wit: The surface over which the'fabric extends, that is, the top surface of the breast beam, should extend rearwardly short of the vertical plane of the shaft so as to allow the mentioned upward tilting of each guiding device in removing it; but this leaves the guiding device free for undesirable up and down rocking movement due to the fall and rise of its connection 9 with the harness so that (according to the known operation) the wefts will alternately be laid over the connection and then elevated thereby as floats, and it is to prevent this undue movement of the guiding device that I employ the strip j, which, when any particular guiding device is to be removed, is released by detaching the appropriate one or ones of the thumb- 7 screws z.

floats are made to bridge the shank 0 and the guiding devices would be otherwise kept from shifting forward with the fabric, as by the slot 15 being inclined, as explained, or by the strip j, with which each guiding device may engage at the shoulder p Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Means for severing the floated threads in a fabric including, with a support, a shaft arranged in the support and parallel with and transversely of which the fabric is to be advanced in its own plane, a cutter arranged in a plane perpendicular to the shaft, a float guiding device having a hook portion hooked over the shaft and opening oppositely t0 the direction of advance of the fabric, said device also having a portion thereof projecting oppositely to the direction of advance of the fabric and adapted to be bridged by the floats and guide them to the cutter, and means, adapted to extend through said floats, for yieldingly urging said device in the direction opposite to that of advance of the fabric and thereby holding said device bearing against the shaft.

2. Means for severing the floated threads in a fabric including, with a support in contact with which the fabric is advanced in its own plane, a shaft arranged inthe support over and parallel with said plane, a cutter arranged in a: plane perpendicular to the shaft, and a float guiding device having a slot receiving the shaft and extending l into said device in the direction of advance of the fabric and downwardly, said device being shiftable upwardly on the shaft as a fulcrum and then in said direction to clear the shaft but being held against downward shifting on the shaft as a fulcrum by said support.

Means for severing the floated threads in a fabric including, with a support in contact with which the fabric is advanced in its own plane, a shaft arranged in the support over and parallel with said plane, a cutter arranged in a plane perpendicular to the shaft, a float guiding device having a slot receiving the shaft and extending into said device in the direction of advance of the fabric, said device being removable from the shaft by shifting it in a plane transverse of the shaft to clear the latter from the slot, and means, removably engaged with said device, for normally holding the latter against movement with the advancing fabric.

4. Means for severing the floated threads in a fabric including, with a support, a shaft arranged in the support and parallel with which the fabric is to be advanced in its own plane, a cutter arranged on the shaft in a plane perpendicular thereto, a float guiding device having a hook portion hooked over the shaft and also slitted in a direction of advance of the fabric and adapted to be bridged by the floats and guide them to the cutter, and means normally holding said device against becoming unhooked.

5. Means for severing the floated threads in a fabric including, with a support in contact with which the fabric is advanced in its ownplane, a shaft arranged in the support over and parallel with said plane,

a cutter arranged in a plane perpendicular to the shaft, a float guiding device having a slot receiving'the shaft and extending into'said device in the direction of advance of the fabric, said device being removable from the shaft by tilting it atits forward portion upwardly and then shifting it forwardly to clear the shaft from the slot, and means, engaged with said forward portion of said' device, normally maintaining the same against tilting.

Intestimony whereof I aifix my signature. WILLIAM L. WINFIELD. 

